‘I Hate You’ Vinegar Valentines

[Claire.]

Nothing Says ‘I Hate You’ Like a ‘Vinegar Valentine’

Valentine’s Day is known as a time for people to send love notes, including anonymous ones signed “your secret admirer.” But during the Victorian era and the early 20th century, February 14 was also a day on which unlucky victims could receive “vinegar valentines” from their secret haters.

Sold in the United States and Britain, these cards featured an illustration and a short line or poem that, rather than offering messages of love and affection, insulted the recipient. They were used as an anonymous medium for saying mean things that its senders wouldn’t dare say to someone’s face—a concept that may sound familiar to today’s readers. Scholar Annebella Pollen, who has written an academic paper on vinegar valentines, says that people often ask her whether these cards were an early form of “trolling.”

Read more: Smithsonian.org

[LostSouls7]

Wow so there was trolling even before the net ? Interesting!

[glorybebe]

So sad that the hate is focused on so much.  Who wants to always fixate on the negative?  

[Still Waters]

There's more in this link -

 

[GlitterRose]

People used to send dead roses, too.

[Duke Wellington]

On ‎11‎/‎02‎/‎2017 at 4:29 AM, glorybebe said:

So sad that the hate is focused on so much.  Who wants to always fixate on the negative?  

The best is when several fake valentines are sent to a work colleague who loves him/her self.

And everyone else is in on it.

[Parsec]

On 11/2/2017 at 4:29 AM, glorybebe said:

So sad that the hate is focused on so much.  Who wants to always fixate on the negative?  

For me it's sadder that people had/has to rely on these "tricks" to say what they think, because aren't able to say it to someone's face. 

Alas, British politeness. 

 

Nonetheless, fascinating tidbit of history, cheers! 

[oldrover]

5 hours ago, RabidMongoose said:

The best is when several fake valentines are sent to a work colleague who loves him/her self.

And everyone else is in on it.

A couple of the girls in work tried this on me a few years ago. Not that I love myself you understand.

I kept finding medication pots with little heart sweets on my desk, and noticed them hanging around a lot. One of them with a huge manila envelope.

Then I found an 'identical' envelope with a deranged handmade Valentine done in marker pen. 

They were so disappointed that I knew it was them. 

[tcgram]

21 hours ago, ChaosRose said:

People used to send dead roses, too.

A couple of my friends sent black roses to their exes.   Needless to say, they were still bitter over breaking up.